What is your question?

TRANSCRIPT

Question: Whom would you interview and what would you ask?

Armitage: I would have interviewed, I think, the previous Pontiff. I met him on two occasions. I was in awe. I never met a man who had a more kindly face or more piercing eyes. He would be one. Mother Teresa would be another. And I personally would have loved to meet Teddy Roosevelt. I think I would ask them about their spirituality first of all. And Mr. Roosevelt particularly, I would ask about his ability after he left office to risk life and limb in exploring the Amazon, which is little known about him. But just a fabulous saga in the story of one of the great American presidents.

Question: What should we be asking ourselves?

Armitage: You know I don’t know. These are all personal matters. I think if you’re a father and a husband, are you as good as you could possibly be? I know one day my daughter . . . my second daughter said to me, “Dad, no one ever wished that their tombstone said ‘I wish I had spent another day at the office.’” So I think that really struck me. I’ve never forgotten it, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret her having said that to me, or the truth of her comments. So I think we all need to try to put a little balance in our life, and ask ourselves have we got that balance.

Big Think Edge helps organizations by catalyzing conversation around the topics most critical to 21st century business success. Led by the world’s foremost experts, our dynamic learning programs are short-form, mobile, and immediately actionable.